Footwear



Feb. 13, 1945.

Fig.1 [8

Filed NOV. 6, 1942 jg 7 \j 28 6 g Flg. 5 16 MM .JMM rmmlt lllllhllhh s Patented Feb. 13, 1945 FOOTWEAR John Roman, Reading, Mass, assignor to Trimmings, Ino., Lawrence,-Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 6,1942, Selim... 464,778

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in in footwear and more particularly to improvements in lacing fly closures for shoe uppers.

In most shoes metallic eyelets are employed at opposite sides of the lacing fly or throat opening of the upper for the reception of the lacing which is to close the fly when the shoe is being worn. These eyelets are expensive to manufacture and considerable expense is involved in the operation of inserting them, and consequently the use of the eyelets adds substantially to the cost of manufacturing the shoes.

One object of the present inventionis to provide a lacing fly closure of simple and practical construction which is substantially less expensive than those which involve the use of metallic eyelets or the like.

It is also a particular object of the invention to provide a lacing fly closure which presents a neat and attractive appearance and which imparts novel and distinctive features of ornamene tation to the shoe.

To the accomplishment of these objects, my invention, as herein illustrated, resides in a shoe provided with an upper or vamp having a fly or throat opening and having two flexible tapes or strips of textile material arranged adjacent to each side of the throat opening, the tapes extending lengthwise of the edges of the opening and being securely stitched to the upper and each tape having a plurality of loops formed as an integral part thereof and spaced lengthwise of the tape. As shown, these loops extend inwardly toward the lacing fly, the loops of one tape being disposed opposite those of the other tape, and a shoe lace is threaded through the loops for the purpose of closing the throat opening. Each tape, as herein illustrated, comprises a single body-forming strand or filler thread which, in the process of fabricating the tape, is folded in a single plane back and forth upon itself to form a series of bights which lie close together and extend alternately in opposite directions widthwise of the tape, The bights of this filler strand are bound together by means of one or more relatively small threads extending lengthwise of the tape which are interengaged with the bights or cross-stretches of the filler strand. At each of a series of regularly spaced intervals throughout the length of the 'tape one of the .bights of the filler strand is made substantially longer than the others and these long bights extend beyond one edge of the tape to constitute the lacing-receiving loops.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which i Fig. 1 isa fragmentary plan view of a shoein which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the shoe; I

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a piece of the tape in which are formed the lacing loops which constitute part of the lacing fly closure;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the upper of the shoe showing the loop-forming tape secured thereto; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing, the shoe shown therein comprises an upper 6 having a lacing fly orthroat opening 8. The fly or opening 8 extends from the top edge ll! of the upper forwardly to a point l2 located a substantial distance rearwardly of the toe end of the shoe, and the opening 8 is adapted to be maintained in a closed or partially closed condition by means of a lacing M which extends through a plurality of lacing loops I6 formed as integral parts of two tapes l8 which are located one at either side of the opening 8 and are firmly secured to the upper bya line of stitching 20 (Figs. 4 and 5).

The tapes l8 extend in directions lengthwise of the shoe and they are disposed in substantially parallel relation to the edges 22 of the upper which define the opposite sides of the fly or throat opening. Each tape l8 extends from the top edge ID of the upper forwardly beyond the front end of I the throat opening '8 substantially to the front extremity of the toe portion of the upper. The lacing loops I6 are spaced equal distances apart .throughout the length of each tape and they extend in directions widthwise of the .tape inwardly toward the lacing fly, the loops terminating short of the edges 22, however, so

that the inner ends of the loops are spaced outwardly from the latter. As shown, the loops of 'each tape are disposed opposite the loops of the It will be noted that inasmuch as the lacing loops terminate short of the edges of the fly or throat opening, the lacing overlaps the shoe 'upper at the opposite sides of the fly where it forwardly of the fiy, where it is engaged with the loops in the portions of the tapes which extend into the toe of the shoe.

The tapes l8 may be made of strands of textile material knitted, woven, braided or otherwise united into a continuous fabric structure. As herein shown, the fabric structure consists of asingle, relatively heavy, filler or body-forming strand 26 (Fig. 3) and two relatively light strands or threads 28 which are interengaged with the filler strand to form a, fabric tape.

In making the tape, in the particular form herein illustrated, the filler or body-forming strand 26 is bent or folded back and forth upon itself in'a single plane to form a series of folds or bights extending alternately in opposite directions crosswise of the tape, these bights being disposed in contiguous relation, and the two threads 28 are run lengthwise of the tape and interengaged with the folds or bights of the filler strand 26 so as to form, in effect, chain stitched seams binding the foldstogether to form a unitary fab-' ricated tape. The folds or bights-of the strand 26 are made of uniform length except that,atregular intervals throughout the length of the tape, they are made relatively long and caused to extend beyond one edge of the tape to constitute loops for receiving the lacing l4.

In making the shoe, a piece of tape long enough to extend from the top edge H] of the upper to the toe end of the shoe is positioned upon the upper at the desired istance from the adjacent side of the fly or throat opening and is securely attached to the upper by means of one or m'orelines of stitching as,- for example, the single line 'of lock stitches shown at 20, the individual stitcliesextending through the tape and through the upper. Another piece of tape of the same length is similarly applied and stitched to the opposite side of the lacing fly, the two pieces of tape being arranged with the lacing loops extending inwardly toward the fly. The lacing loops are thus to make the upper more readily conformable-to the contour-,of the foot. This will "enhance the form-fitting characteristics of the :shoe and make it more comfortable and serviceable in use.

- Moreover, the extension of the lacing closure into the toe portion of the upper, forwardly of the fly, 8, provides a construction .in which, by tightening the lacing, the upper may be caused to fit more snugly and conform better to the irregu- 'larities of foot contour in that locality. The expense of making and applying the loop-bearing tapes is considerably less thanthat involved in the manufacture of metallic eyelets and their .insertion in the upper of a shoe and, consequently, a Y

shoe having a laced closure for its throat opening can be manufactured at a substantial reduction in cost over that of a shoe having conventional lacing eyelets and the shoe will present a distinctly novel and stylish appearance and will have outstanding features of ornamentation rendering it exceptionallyattractive to a prospective wearer. Moreover, thestitching of the tape to the upper affords a practical, inexpensive and effective manner of securing the lacing loops to the shoe, it being obvious that the stitching serves also to bind together even more firmly the bights of the strand constituting the body portion of the tape. If desired, of course, the binding together of the body strands of the tapes, and the attachment of thetapes to the upper, may-be made even more secure by the employment of additional.

throat opening and extending lengthwise of the shoe, each of said tapes comprising two strands, one of said strands forming a series of long loops and a plurality of short loops all extending widthwise of the tape and the other of saidstrands holding the loops of the first strand in assembled relation" to provide a unitary fabricated struc ture, said short loops being arranged in groups interposedsbetween adjacent long loops and said long loopsterminating substantial distances out- Wardlyof the edges of said opening and being disposed with both sides engaging the upper, and a line of stitching extending crosswise through both the lon loops and the short loops and securing the tapes to the upper thereby adapting the loops to receive-a lacing for maintaining said throat opening in :a partially closed condition and holding the loops against the upper.

2. In a shoe, the combination with an upper having a lacing fly or throat opening, of two .fabricated tapes extending along opposite sides of the throat-opening, each of said tapes comprising a continuous strand lying throughout its length against the upper and forming a series of loops extending widthwise of the tape, and a second continuous strand extending lengthwisev of the tape and forming a series of. chain stitches encircling the cross-stretches of said loops and 00- operating with said loops to constitute a textile fabric, said loops comprising relatively long loops terminatin outwardly of the edges of said throat opening and relatively short loops spacing said lon loops equal distances apart, lines of stitching securing said tapes to the'upper, and a lacing threaded through said long loops, said lacing holding the loops against the upper and holding said throat opening in a partially closed condition. 1

' OHN RoMAN. f 

